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Downtown Sylva group lists achievements, asks for support
By Lynn Hotaling
Through hand-carried letters to downtown merchants and an e-mail to Jackson County Chamber of Commerce members, the Downtown Sylva Association (formerly Sylva Partners in Renewal) is seeking to build support in advance of tonight’s Sylva Town Board meeting.
The letters and e-mails urge business owners to attend tonight’s 7 p.m. Sylva board meeting, though it is not clear how many will speak. The DSA was not on the July 6 agenda as of press time Monday.
Apparently written in response to Sylva town board members’ recent 3-2 decision to cut the DSA allocation from $20,000 to $2,000, the letters and e-mails highlight DSA achievements and describe the organization’s unique role as a downtown advocate.
DSA Administrator Linda Gillman said Monday that she had hand-carried letters to many Main Street merchants in an effort to be sure that DSA’s many contributions are known to the community.
“Not everybody knows what all we’ve done,” she said.
According to last week’s e-mail, those achievements include the Mill Street Master Plan; writing the grant that funded recent Mill Street improvements; purchasing new downspouts for the Mill Street buildings in the project area; purchasing a bench in memory of former traffic policeman Joe Frigo; and awarding some 30 facade and/or historic paint color grants.
In addition, the memo points to events sponsored by DSA – the Greening Up the Mountains downtown spring festival and the Sylva Christmas parade. DSA also collaborates with the Jackson County Recreation Department on the annual downtown Fourth of July celebration and works with Western Carolina University on the school’s homecoming parade, according to the e-mail.
Gillman said DSA’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year was $45,000, which included an anticipated $20,000 allocation from the town of Sylva. She indicated the group’s rent on its Hooper House office is $3,840, but she declined to discuss DSA finances further since the organization’s board hasn’t yet met to determine a new budget in light of the Sylva board’s June 15 decision.
In addition to the accomplishments listed above, the DSA letters and e-mails describe the group as “the innovative and driving force for a vital downtown” and “the only association that specifically represents downtown Sylva’s merchants and business owners.” In addition, the group features downtown properties available for lease or purchase on its Web site and “actively recruits new businesses to downtown Sylva in collaboration with the Chamber (of Commerce), local real estate community and the Economic Development Commission of Jackson County.”
The town of Sylva has provided economic support to DSA/SPIR and the organization’s projects for some 10 years. Examples of this include some $500,000 to fund 1998’s Main Street Streetscape project, at least $185,000 in direct allocations to the organization, and more than $36,000 toward completion of the recent Mill Street project. DSA/SPIR wrote the original Department of Transportation T-21 grant that brought $123,200, and the town provided the required $24,400 match. The town of Sylva was the project administrator and added two additional grants – one for $12,000 and one for $4,500. The town also provided $6,000 to match the $12,000 grant and an additional $6,000 needed to complete the project.
Discussion during the June 15 session that resulted in the Sylva board’s cut to DSA funding echoed town budget discussions held four years ago. At that time it was board member Eldridge Painter, whose term ended this past December, who questioned the amount of money that went to the downtown group.
Painter reminded board members of discussions held in fall 2001 about eliminating a $20,000 yearly payment to DSA (then SPIR).
“In deliberations on hiring a town manager, it was mentioned that we wouldn’t be needing money going to SPIR because we would hire a town manager,” Painter said in June 2002.
Mayor Brenda Oliver and board member Maurice Moody, both agreed with Painter that the conversations had taken place. Moody said at the time that he recalled someone mentioning that it might be a good idea to combine SPIR with town government as is the case with a number of downtown revitalization groups across the state.
Painter also questioned what he termed a duplication of services since the town by then had a full-time manager. (Richard McHargue, a former SPIR director was hired as Sylva’s first town manager in January 2002.) Painter also pointed out that businesses outside the downtown district receive no support from SPIR/DSA.
Current town board member Harold Hensley, who made last month’s motion to cut DSA’s allocation, also pointed out that Sylva’s town limits include a number of businesses that are not part of the downtown district.
“Sylva doesn’t just run from the Courthouse steps to the Coffee Shop,” Hensley said during a recent meeting.
The discussion of DSA funding turned acrimonious when Moody accused Hensley and other DSA funding-cut supporters Ray Lewis and Danny Allen of holding illegal meetings to formulate strategy.
In the end, Hensley, Lewis and Allen voted to cut DSA funding to a level that matches the town’s contribution to the Jackson County Rescue Squad, while Moody, who is also a member of the DSA board and board member Stacy Knotts voted in favor of maintaining the $20,000 allocation.
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